Everpar Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 6,237 Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Everpar Advisors LLC bought a new position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 6,237 shares of the airline’s stock, valued at approximately $210,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 41.1% during the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,184 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC increased its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 60.6% in the third quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,661 shares of the airline’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 627 shares during the last quarter. New England Capital Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 35.3% during the third quarter. New England Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,923 shares of the airline’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 502 shares in the last quarter. Finally, City State Bank boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 55.8% during the third quarter. City State Bank now owns 1,955 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on LUV shares. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $42.00 target price on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $29.50 price objective (down previously from $31.50) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $24.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.31.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Airlines

In other news, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.83, for a total value of $35,912,933.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 59,912,580 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,787,192,261.40. This represents a 1.97 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.40, for a total value of $132,405.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 89,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,074,534.40. This trade represents a 4.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of LUV stock opened at $32.19 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1 year low of $23.58 and a 1 year high of $36.12. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $33.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.31 billion, a P/E ratio of -459.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 1.14.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.10. Southwest Airlines had a negative net margin of 0.06% and a positive return on equity of 4.56%. The business had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.38 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.81 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is presently -1,028.57%.

Southwest Airlines Company Profile

Southwest Airlines Co operates as a passenger airline company that provides scheduled air transportation services in the United States and near-international markets. As of December 31, 2023, the company operated a total fleet of 817 Boeing 737 aircraft; and served 121 destinations in 42 states, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, as well as ten near-international countries, including Mexico, Jamaica, the Bahamas, Aruba, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Belize, Cuba, the Cayman Islands, and Turks and Caicos.